Arizona Social Security office bombed

Dec. 3, 2012 - 01:49PM
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No one was injured when a device exploded Friday at the back door of the Social Security office in Case Grande, Ariz. (12News)

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PHOENIX — More details have emerged about the man authorities arrested in connection with the investigation of a bombing at a government building in downtown Casa Grande, Ariz., near Phoenix on Friday.

Abdullatif Aldosary, 47, was arrested by Casa Grande Police on Friday morning, shortly after a homemade explosive rocked the Social Security Administration office there at about 8 a.m., according to sources close to the case.

The sources said Aldosary may face a myriad of state and federal charges and expected him to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in downtown Phoenix on Monday.

It’s not clear if investigators have determined a suspected motive in the bombing. Authorities served a search warrant on Aldosary’s home in Coolidge, Ariz., on Friday.

The FBI is leading a team of investigators that includes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local law enforcement.

An official from the FBI field office in Phoenix would not positively identify Aldosary as a suspect.

Records from the Arizona Department of Corrections show Abdullatif Aldosary did time in state prison for an aggravated harassment case. Details in the case are unclear, but records show he was sentenced in Maricopa County Superior Court. He was released in 2009. A search of public records also shows he had four addresses since October 1998, including residences in Tempe, Phoenix and Coolidge.

The office building, which normally has 14 workers, was closed, according to Social Security Administration officials. The explosion charred a back entrance to the building.

No one was reported injured. The monetary amount of the damage had not been released Friday.

FBI spokesman Manuel Johnson said he could not confirm or deny an arrest was made. He would not say if the agency was working any investigative leads.

“This thing is fluid,” Johnson said Friday. “There are [other] agencies involved at this point, and it would be really premature for me to start speculating.”

John Lopez, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, also declined to comment Friday and referred questions to the FBI.